Upcoming Events: City of Manassas - September 2022

 

Join Us for September Programs!

Liberia Basement to Attic Tour September 10, 2pm $15 Adults, $5 Children Listen to Colonel Rice tell engaging stories about his time fighting for the U.S. Army at both the first and second battles of Manassas. Discover this 1825 historic gem where President Lincoln may have eaten ice cream on the porch and where soldiers left their marks on the walls. Explore the house from the basement to the attic while learning about some of the people who once occupied the house.  Register Now!

Museum at the Market September 15, 9am-1pm FREE Meet us at the Farmer's Market on the third Thursday of each month to explore objects from the Manassas Museum collection and pick up a FREE take-and-make craft!

Stories of Preservation and Progress September 18, 2pm FREE Join us at Liberia House to hear Heather Bollinger, Fairfax Historic Courthouse Historic Records Center Manager, discuss the Fairfax Circuit Court Slavery Index - a project that makes personal information about thousands of enslaved people more accessible to researchers.

History Hikes September 25, 4pm-5pm $10 Adults, $5 Children  Explore the flora and fauna of the City's historic sites with a different expert each month throughout the season! Connect with nature while learning about the rich history of Manassas.  Walk with a Hawk during this month's History Hike! Meet Rosie the Red-Tailed Hawk and explore the beautiful new trails at Liberia House while learning about some of the rich history of the area! Register Now!

Will: Mary B. Craig

Will of Mary B. Craig
PWCo. Will Book P, pg. 423
Executed: 15 August 1842; Proved: 3 April 1849

I Mary B. Craig of the County of Prince William & state of Virginia, being at this time in perfect health and of a sound and disposing mind, do make and declare this to be my last will and testament, in the manner and form as follows, Viz:

I give and bequeath to my husband William M. Craig all and every discription of property I may be possessed of, meaning two slaves, Mary and Julia Ann, with their increase, my lands houses here or elsewhere, all monies loaned out, all bonds and accounts due to me at the time of my death, also my stock of horses, cattle sheep & hogs, farming utensils, household and kitchen furniture of every discription. All of the above property I leave to my said husband free from the molestation of any person or persons whatsoever and by him to disposed of in any manner that may best suit him, hereby revoking annuling all other wills that I may have made. I leave my said husband my executor and of whom I design that no security be required. Witness my hand and seal this fifteenth day of August A.D. Eighteen hundred and forty two.

Mary B. Craig {seal}

Signed in the presence of us
Wm. A. Lane
Jesse Barrow
Northumberland Pearson 

In Prince William County Court April 3d 1849

This last will & testament of Mary B. Craig was produced to the court & the proof thereof opposed by William T. McCarty & Charles J. Fox whereinfore for reasons appearing __ the court, on the motion of Seymour Lynn who made oath thereto & together with George F. Carney his security entered into & acknowledged a bond in the penalty of $3500 conditioned as the law directs he is appointed to collect & preserve the goods & chattles of the said Mary B. Craig decd during the contest about her said last will & testament or until the further order of the said court. And on the 6th of August 1849 this said last will & testament of Mary B. Craig was again presented to the court together with the commission for taking the attestation of William A. Lane a witness thereto & the certificate of the execution of the sd. commission which being inspected by the court & the sd. will being also proved by the oath of Northumberland Pearson another subscribing witness thereto the same is ordered to be recorded as the true last will & testament of said Mary B. Craig decd. And on the motion of William M. Craig the Excr therein named who made oath thereto & entered into acknowledged a bond in the penalty of $5000 without security according to the testators request the court being of the opinion that she has left property more than sufficient to pay her debts, certificate is granted him for obtaining a probate of said will in due form.

Teste    J. Williams  c.c.

Sunday's Obituary: James Newton Carter

Evening Star (DC)
23 August 1923

VETERAN VIRGINIAN DIES

James Newton Carter Served in Confederate Army

James Newton Carter, a native and a life-long resident of Prince William county, Va., died at his home in Occoquan, Va. yesterday. He was eighty years old. Mr. Carter served in the Confederate army in the civil war as a member of Company H, 15th Virginia Cavalry. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Annie Turner Carter and these children: Thomas I. of New York, Henry H. of Washington and William Minor and Samuel N. of Baltimore, and five daughters, Mrs. C. A. Macomb, Mrs. J. W. Ayres and Mrs. W. R. Ersfeld of Washington, Mrs. Warren P. Clarke of Woodbridge, Va., and Mrs. George Saufley of Hazard, Ky., as well as eleven grandchildren.

Friend of Friends Friday: Ranaway: Tasco

Daily National Intelligencer 
29 July 1829

$20 DOLLARS REWARD

I WILL give twenty dollars for the apprehension and delivery to me (or confinement in jail, so that I get him again) of a mulatto man named Tasco, who broke out of jail in this place, and made his escape on the night of the 22d instant. Tasco is a bright mulatto, about thirty years of age, five feet seven and a half inches high, spare and delicate, and has a large scar covering nearly all the right side of his face, occasioned by a scald or burn. He belongs to Miss Eliza L. Dade, of Prince William County, Va., and was committed to jail in this place as a runaway, some weeks since. He took with him no clothing except what he had on, which were only a shirt and pantaloons. He has a wife and family living in Washington City or Georgetown, (recent from Alexandria) and it is possible Tasco is lurking in one or the other of those cities, if he has not attempted to make his way to Pennsylvania.

ELI S. BALDWIN, Jailor
Prince George's County, Md.

Upper Marlboro', July28-July 29--eo6t

Newspaper Tidbit: To the Voters of PWCo (1852 / County Surveyor)

Alexandria Gazette (Va)
19 May 1852

To the Voters of Prince William County -- FELLOW CITIZENS:

As there are many of you with whom it will be out of my power, (owing to circumstances of a private character) to have a personal interview, therefore have chosen this method of announcing myself a candidate, under the new Constitution, for the office of County Surveyor, and respectfully solicit your suffrages. It may not be improper to state, that I have been engaged in surveying for the last five or six years, and think I can, with some confidence, appeal to those of my countrymen, who have had an opportunity of knowing, to say whether they believe me competent or not to discharge the duties pertaining to the said office. Should it be your pleasure to elect me, I pledge myself to give due and proper attention to the business, and to use my utmost exertions to render satisfaction. Awaiting your decision at the polls, I am very respectfully, your obedient servant, and fellow-citizen,

THOMAS W. CARTER.

Prince William co., mh 19-eotf

Sunday's Obituary: Leamon Ledman

Evening Star (DC)
10 August 1943

Leamon Ledman, 72, Dies; Prince William Court Clerk

MANASSAS, Va., Aug. 10 -- Leamon Ledman, 72, for the past five years clerk of the Prince William County Circuit Court, died at his home  here yesterday. Death was attributed to a heart attack.

A native of Occoquan, Va., Mr. Ledman had been connected with the clerk's office here for the last 27 years. He served as deputy until five years ago when he was elected clerk on the death of George Tyler.

He was a member of the Manassas Kiwanis Club and had been superintendent of the Baptist Sunday school for a number of years.

Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Ellen Selecman Ledman, and three children, Mrs. Richard Haydon, Manassas; Hornbaker Ledman, Richmond, and Mrs. Wiley Narron, Washington.

Will: Sarah C. Calvert

Will of Sarah C. Calvert
PWCo. Will Book O, pg. 422
Executed 21 August 1839; Proved 2 September 1839

I Sarah C. Calvert of the County of Prince William in the State of Virginia being at this time sick but of sound memory and disposing mind, do make this my last will and testament. 

1. I give to my son Robert A. Calvert slaves, Lewis, Henry, and William and the increase of the said slave Henry to have & to hold the same to him and his heirs forever.

2. I give and devise to my said son Robert A. Calvert and  his heirs slaves Ned, Delia, and Julia, and the future increase of the females to hold the same in trust, for the use and benefit of my daughter Chloe Ann Cooper, wife of Benjamin Cooper, for her sole and separate use after the death of the said Benjamin Cooper her husband, should she survive him, and in the mean time to permit the said Benjamin Cooper and Chloe Ann his wife to take possession of said slaves and to have their services and hires without accountability to the said Robert A. Calvert for and during their joint lives; and then for the survivor of them during his or her life, and after the death of both of them, then for the use of the children of the said Benjamin and Chloe Ann issuing from their marriage born or hereafter to born until the youngest of them shall attain the age of twenty one years, at the happening of which last event the trust herein reposed in the said Robert A. Calvert shall cease and the said slaves and their increase shall thenceforth be the property of the children issuing from the marriage of the said Benjamin Cooper and Chloe Ann his wife and their heirs to be equally divided between them.

3. I give and bequeath to my son Robert A. Calvert one bedstead bed and furniture.

4. I devise to Lucien Alexander Davis son of my daughter A. F. who intermarried with William W. Davis one bedstead bed and furniture; also, one hundred dollars to be paid to him by Robert A. Calvert one of my Executors to be hereafter named upon his arrival at the age of twenty one years, and should he the said Lucien Alexander Davis die before his arrival to that age, then I give and devise the said bedstead, bed and furniture to my said son Robert A. Calvert and his heirs forever.

5. I give to my grand daughter Sarah C. Cooper one bedstead bed and furniture.

6. I give to my grand daughter Mary Virginia Cooper one bedstead bed and furniture.

7. I devise to my son Robert A. Calvert the sum of one hundred dollars herein before given, by the 4th clause in this my will to Lucien Alexander Davis provided the said Lucien Alexander Davis shall die under the age of twenty one years.

8. The residue of my estate real personal or mixed I devise to my daughter Chloe Ann Cooper and to my son Robert A. Calvert to be equally divided between them, they paying in equal portions my just debts, and funeral expenses.

9. And lastly I appoint Robert A. Calvert and Benjamin Cooper executors of this my last will and testament. Given from under my hand the 21st day of August A.D. 1839.

Sarah C. Calvert [X her mark]

Signed sealed published and declared by the testatrix as and for her last will and testament in her presence and in the presence of each other.

Moses Arnold
Nancy Sidebottom [X her mark]
M. B. Sinclair

At a Court held for Prince William County Sept. 2d 1839

This last Will and testament of Sarah C. Calvert decd was proved according to law by the Oaths of Moses Arnold and Mordecia B. Sinclair witnesses thereto and is ordered to be recorded. And on the motion of Robert A. Calvert and Benjamin Cooper the Executors named therein who made oath thereto and together with Alexander Howison and Charles G. Howison their securities, entered into and acknowledged a bond in the penalty of $8000 conditioned as the law directs, certificate is granted them for obtaining a probate of the said will in due form.

Teste   J. Williams  c. c.